different between deface vs ruin

English

Etymology

From Middle English defacen, from Old French defacier, desfacier (“to mutilate, destroy, disfigure”), from des- (“away from”) (see dis-) + Vulgar Latin *facia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??fe?s/, /di??fe?s/
• Rhymes: -e?s

Verb

deface (third-person singular simple present defaces, present participle defacing, simple past and past participle defaced)

1. To damage or vandalize something, especially a surface, in a visible or conspicuous manner.
   • 1869: George Eliot, The Legend of Jubal

     That wondrous frame where melody began / Lay as a tomb defaced that no eye cared to scan.

2. To void or devalue; to nullify or degrade the face value of.

   He defaced the I.O.U. notes by scrawling "void" over them.

   • 1776: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

     One-and-twenty worn and defaced shillings, however, were considered as equivalent to a guinea, which perhaps, indeed, was worn and defaced too, but seldom so much so.

3. (heraldry, flags) To alter a coat of arms or a flag by adding an element to it.

   You get the Finnish state flag by defacing the national flag with the state coat of arms placed in the middle of the cross.

Synonyms

• (damage in a conspicuous way): disfigure, mar, obliterate, scar, vandalize
• (degrade the face value): cancel, devalue, nullify, void

Derived terms

• defacement

Translations

See also

• efface

English

Etymology

From Middle English ruyne, ruine, from Old French ruine, from Latin ru?na (“overthrow, ruin”), from ru? (“I fall down, tumble, sink in ruin, rush”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??u?.?n/
• Rhymes: -u??n

Noun

ruin (countable and uncountable, plural ruins)

1. (countable, sometimes in the plural) The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.

   • The Veian and the Gabian towirs shall fall, / And one promiscuous ruin cover all; / Nor, after length of years, a stone betray / The place where once the very ruins lay.

   • a. 1812, Joseph Stevens Buckminster, sermon

     The labour of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
2. (uncountable) The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.

3. (uncountable) Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Youth and Age

     The errors of young men are the ruin of business.

   • The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He […] played a lone hand, […]. Most lone wolves had a moll at any rate—women were their ruin—but if the Bat had a moll, not even the grapevine telegraph could locate her.

4. (obsolete) A fall or tumble.
5. A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
   • 1768, Thomas Gray, The Bard

     Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!

6. (uncountable) Complete financial loss; bankruptcy.

Translations

Verb

ruin (third-person singular simple present ruins, present participle ruining, simple past and past participle ruined or (dialectal, nonstandard) ruint)

1. (transitive) To cause the fiscal ruin of.

   With all these purchases, you surely mean to ruin us!

   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us; for he kept on staying week after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been long exhausted...

2. To destroy or make something no longer usable.

   He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.

   • 1857, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Mile-Stone

     By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeing ruined cities in the ashes.

3. To cause severe financial loss to; to bankrupt or drive out of business.

   The crooked stockbroker's fraudulent scheme ruined dozens of victims; some investors lost their life savings and even their houses.

4. To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.

   My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.

5. To make something less enjoyable or likeable.

   I used to love that song, but being assaulted when that song was playing ruined the song for me.

6. To reveal the ending of (a story); to spoil.
7. (obsolete) To fall into a state of decay.
   • 1636, George Sandys, Paraphrase upon the Psalmes and upon the Hymnes dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments

     Though he his house of polisht marble build, / Yet shall it ruine like the Moth's fraile cell

8. (transitive, historical) To seduce or debauch, and thus harm the social standing of.

   The young libertine was notorious for ruining local girls.

Synonyms

• destroy
• fordo
• ruinate
• wreck
• See also Thesaurus:spoil

Antonyms

• build
• construct
• found
• produce

Related terms

• ruination
• ruinable
• ruiner
• ruinous
• ruint

Translations

Further reading

• ruin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ruin in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• ruin at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Irun

Asturian

Adjective

ruin m sg (feminine singular ruina, neuter singular ruino, masculine plural ruinos, feminine plural ruines)

1. weedy

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ruun. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rœy?n/
• Hyphenation: ruin
• Rhymes: -œy?n

Noun

ruin m (plural ruinen, diminutive ruintje n)

1. gelding

See also

• hengst

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin ruina

Noun

ruin m (definite singular ruinen, indefinite plural ruiner, definite plural ruinene)

1. ruin (often in plural form when referring to buildings)

References

• “ruin” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin ruina

Noun

ruin m (definite singular ruinen, indefinite plural ruinar, definite plural ruinane)

1. ruin (often in plural form when referring to buildings)

References

• “ruin” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Etymology

From an earlier *ruino, from ruina, or from a Vulgar Latin root *ru?nus, ultimately from Latin ru?na. Compare Portuguese ruim, Catalan roí.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?rwin/, [?rw?n]

Adjective

ruin (plural ruines)

1. contemptible, mean, heartless

   Synonyms: vil, despreciable

2. mean, stingy

   Synonyms: avaro, mezquino, tacaño, usurero, agarrado, cicatero

3. wild; unruly

   Synonyms: salvaje, agresto

4. rachitic

   Synonym: raquítico

Swedish

Noun

ruin c

1. a ruin (remains of a building)
2. ruin (financial bankruptcy)

Declension

Related terms

• ruinera

Anagrams

• urin

Tetum

Noun

ruin

1. bone